17 Oct 2022 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Lee logs back-to-back top-3s
by Dane Heverin
A second straight Spanish Sunday in the spotlight has Min Woo Lee set for a massive finish to the year.
Upon announcing last week that he will be playing alongside superstar sister Minjee Lee at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open from December 1-4, the 24-year-old declared that he could “feel a good end of the year coming” and he backed up his words with a third place finish at the DP World Tour’s Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters in Sotogrande, Spain.
Lee led at the halfway mark of the tournament following an opening round 66 and a Friday 67, but a 71 on Saturday left him needing to hunt birdies to push for the title during the last round.
The West Australian, who is also confirmed to also play the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship from November 24-27, appeared to be making the necessary charge early in his round however, with a hat-trick of birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes moving him to 12-under and within striking distance of Spanish leader Adrian Otaegui.
Unfortunately, a wayward drive at the next hole stunted Lee’s momentum and he was unable to click into gear for the remainder of the afternoon as Otaegu ran away from his rivals to win by six shots at 19-under par.
Lee walked into the clubhouse with a final round 70 after he slipped back to 10-under with another dropped shot, and he finished third for a second consecutive week - at the Open de Espana in Madrid, he went toe-to-toe with former world number one and three-time champion of the Spanish national Open Jon Rahm for all four rounds.
As a result of his impressive Iberian fortnight, Lee has jumped from 73 to 58 in the Official World Golf Rankings in only two weeks, while he has also rose 24 places from his most recent result alone to 38th on the DP World Tour Rankings - the top-50 earn a start in the lucrative DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next month.
At the same event, fellow Australian Maverick Antcliff recorded his best finish in more than a year as he fired home a final round of 69 to end the week in a share of 21st place.
Stephanie Kyriacou, who is also confirmed to play in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, returned to the Ladies European Tour for the Aramco Team Series - New York and she produced her fifth top-20 finish of the year by coming tied 17th in the individual standings.
New Zealander Steven Alker continued his stellar season on the Champions Tour with his fourth runner-up finish of the year at the SAS Championship in North Carolina.
Alker is first on the Tour’s money list with three victories and 14 top-10s with three events remaining for the season, while Fortinet Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan was the best of the Australians at the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah with a tied 12th finish.
Results
DP World Tour
Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters - Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
Winner Adrian Otaeugi 67-66-64-68—265 €510,000
3 Min Woo Lee66-67-71-70—274 €189,000
T21 Maverick Antcliff 73-68-74-69—284 €32,100
MC Jason Scrivener 74-72—146
MC Scott Hend 74-79—153
PGA TOUR
ZOZO Championship - Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Chiba, Japan
Winner Keegan Bradley 66-65-66-68—265 $1,980,000
T29 Cam Davis 70-67-69-69—275 $65,795.72
T53 Danny Lee (NZ) 68-75-65-71—279 $22,586.67
T59 Lucas Herbert 74-72-71-63—280 $21,340
Challenge Tour
English Trophy presented by Rocket Yard Sports Marketing - Frilford Heath, Abingdon, England
Winner Jeremy Freiburghaus 68-65-67-66—266 €42,591.77
T64 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 69-69-73-73—284 €678.81
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – New York - Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, New York City, New York
Winner Lexi Thompson 71-65-69—205 €72,987
T18 Stephanie Kyriacou 72-73-70—215 €6,990.53
T36 Whitney Hillier 77-75-67—219 €3,479.05
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Invitational – Jeddah - Royal Greens G&CC, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
Winner Brooks Koepka 62-67-69—198 $4,000,000 * won in a playoff
T12Jed Morgan 67-68-68—203 $289,714
T21Cameron Smith 68-69-68—205 $172,500
T35 Marc Leishman 67-73-69—209 $144,000
T35 Wade Ormsby 70-68-71—209 $144,000
45 Matt Jones 74-69-70—213 $126,000
Champions Tour
SAS Championship - Prestonwood CC, Cary, North Carolina
Winner Fred Couples 68-68-60—196 $315,000
2 Steven Alker (NZ) 72-66-64—202 $184,800
T7 Stuart Appleby 70-69-68—207 $75,600
T50 Rod Pampling 74-71-71—216 $6,510
T56 John Senden 70-78-69—217 $4,620
T66 Robert Allenby 76-71-74—221 $2,520
Legends Tour
Farmfoods European Senior Masters - La Manga Club, Murcia, Spain
Winner Paul Lawrie 71-66-65—202 * won in a playoff
T24 Michael Long (NZ) 72-72-69—213
T46 Michael Campbell (NZ) 72-73-74—219
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